J-engine

ABSTRACT

Various exemplary embodiments relate to an engine including a cylindrical cassette that converts linear into rotational motion. The linear motion is provided by a normal cylinder and valve mechanism driving pistons in a reciprocating motion, and the rotational motion is transmitted to an output shaft. Further embodiments relate to methods of converting linear motion to rotational motion by using a cylindrical cassette.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional of U.S. application Ser. No.15/095,532, filed Apr. 11, 2016, the entire contents of which isincorporated herein by reference for all purposes as if fully set forthherein. This application is based upon and claims the benefit ofpriority from U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/187,729, filed Jul. 1,2015, which is hereby incorporated by reference for all purposes as iffully set forth herein.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention involves a mechanical device that converts the linearmotion of a piston into rotational motion of an output shaft without useof a crankshaft by using a rack and pinion.

BACKGROUND

In a traditional combustion engine, the linear motion of the pistons isconverted into rotational motion using a crankshaft and connecting rod.This approach is inherently inefficient, since the connecting rod andthe crank of the crankshaft and the connecting rod and piston in thecylinder run both connect at an angle. As a result, a percentage ofpower is lost, and designs using a crankshaft have a limited speed ofthe output shaft of the motor relative to the power of the piston.

Engines have been designed that instead use a rack and pinion system toconvert linear motion into rotational motion. U.S. Pat. No. 4,433,649 ofShin shows an internal combustion engine that uses a rack and pinionsystem to use a long stroke engine with small area pistons. However, thedesign of Shin still uses a crankshaft, albeit with a reduced functioncompared to a traditional engine. In Shin, the power output function isremoved from the crankshaft; however, a crankshaft is still used toprovide a flywheel function and control timing.

U.S. Pat. No. 7,765,803 of Lee et al. also uses a rack and pinionsystem. As may be seen in FIG. 2 of U.S. Pat. No. 7,765,803, the designuses a multitude of small parts in its construction, which has drawbacksin terms of expense and complication of manufacture and assembly.

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/329,338 of Brooks (US PublicationNo. 2015/0013635) is a rack and pinion system that uses a complex,shaped rack with a steel toe and a milled groove into which is inserteda finger. Moving along the groove, the rack makes a complex movementwhich results in a loss of power. This design creates a large frictionload which is not conductive to work at high engine speeds.

SUMMARY

The inventive device uses a rack and pinion system combined with acassette to provide a new engine design. This design addresses some ofthe drawbacks of engines seen in the prior art, providing a usefulreduction in friction, decrease in engine complexity, and correspondingreductions in size and weight. The inventive engine is designed to useless parts, and so should be easier to manufacture. As a result of thedecrease in friction and number of parts, the inventive engine should bemore robust (i.e. less likely to break or wear out) and easier tomaintain. This invention has efficiency and space advantages overconventional engines and existing rack and pinion engine designs.

In accordance with the present invention, there is provided acylindrical cassette with a cylindrical inner sleeve and an cylindricalouter sleeve, the inner sleeve fitting inside the outer sleeve andconfigured so that when the outer sleeve is rotated in a firstdirection, the inner sleeve is also rotated, and when the outer sleeveis rotated in a second direction opposite to the first direction, theinner sleeve is not rotated; said cassette having a bevel gear at eachaxial end; and said outer sleeve having teeth oriented along the axis ofthe cassette. In one aspect of the present invention, the inner sleevehas two combs and the outer sleeve has two sets of retractable fingersconfigured to interact with said combs. In another aspect of the presentinvention, the inner sleeve has four combs and the outer sleeve has foursets of retractable fingers configured to interact with said combs.

In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a firstcylindrical cassette with a first cylindrical inner sleeve and a firstcylindrical outer sleeve, the first inner sleeve fitting inside thefirst outer sleeve and configured so that when the first outer sleeve isrotated in a first direction, the first inner sleeve is also rotated,and when the first outer sleeve is rotated in a second directionopposite to the first direction, the first inner sleeve is not rotated;said first cassette having a first bevel gear and a second bevel gear ateach axial end; and said first outer sleeve having teeth oriented alongthe axis of the first cassette; a second cylindrical cassette in axialalignment with the first cylindrical cassette; the second cylindricalcassette having a second cylindrical inner sleeve and a secondcylindrical outer sleeve, the second inner sleeve fitting inside thesecond outer sleeve and configured so that when the second outer sleeveis rotated in the first direction, the second inner sleeve is alsorotated, and when the second outer sleeve is rotated in the seconddirection opposite to the first direction, the second inner sleeve isnot rotated; said second cassette having a third bevel gear and a fourthbevel gear at each axial end; and said second outer sleeve having teethoriented along the axis of the cassette; an output load shaft that isturned by the first inner sleeve and the second inner sleeve; and a setof cylinders and pistons connected to racks and driving the racks in analternating linear motion; where the racks interact with the teeth onthe first outer sleeve and second outer sleeve to alternate between:rotating the first outer sleeve in the first direction and rotating thesecond outer sleeve in the second direction; and rotating the firstouter sleeve in the second direction and rotating the second outersleeve in the first direction.

In an aspect of this invention, the output load shaft has a spline andthe first inner sleeve and the second inner sleeve has a keyway and theoutput load shaft is turned by the first inner sleeve and the secondinner sleeve by the spline interacting with the keyway.

In another aspect of this invention, there is provided a fifth bevelgear configured to interact with the second bevel gear and the thirdbevel gear; a sixth bevel gear configured to interact with the firstbevel gear; a seventh bevel gear configured to interact with the fourthbevel gear; a first tapered segment bevel gear configured to interactwith the sixth bevel gear and configured with a keyway that interactswith the spline on the output load shaft; a second tapered segment bevelgear configured to interact with the seventh bevel gear and configuredwith a keyway that interacts with the spline on the output load shaft; aflywheel rotationally attached to the output load shaft; and an electricstarter configured to rotate the flywheel. In accord with the presentinvention, there is provided a method of starting the engine byactivating the electric motor and turning the flywheel.

In another aspect of this invention, there are guides for the rackslocated on the opposite ends of the racks from the pistons andcylinders, and the guides may be configured to perform additional work.In another aspect, the additional work may be the circulation oflubricants. In another aspect, the additional work may be the supply ofcompressed air. In a further aspect of this invention, there is a thirdcylindrical cassette with a third cylindrical inner sleeve and a thirdcylindrical outer sleeve, the third inner sleeve fitting inside thethird outer sleeve and configured so that when the third outer sleeve isrotated in a first direction, the third inner sleeve is also rotated,and when the third outer sleeve is rotated in a second directionopposite to the first direction, the third inner sleeve is not rotated;said third cassette having a eighth bevel gear and a ninth bevel gear ateach axial end; and said third outer sleeve having teeth oriented alongthe axis of the third cassette; a fourth cylindrical cassette in axialalignment with the third cylindrical cassette; the fourth cylindricalcassette having a fourth cylindrical inner sleeve and a fourthcylindrical outer sleeve, the fourth inner sleeve fitting inside thefourth outer sleeve and configured so that when the fourth outer sleeveis rotated in the first direction, the fourth inner sleeve is alsorotated, and when the fourth outer sleeve is rotated in the seconddirection opposite to the first direction, the fourth inner sleeve isnot rotated; said fourth cassette having a tenth bevel gear and aeleventh bevel gear at each axial end; and said fourth outer sleevehaving teeth oriented along the axis of the cassette; where the rackshave teeth on an upper and a lower surface, the teeth on the lowersurface of the racks meshing with the teeth on the first and secondcassettes and the teeth on the upper surface of the racks meshing withthe teeth on the third and fourth cassettes.

In accord with the present invention, there is provided a method ofconverting linear motion from a set of sources to rotational motion bytransmitting the linear motion from a set of sources to a set of racks;the racks alternately rotating a pair of axially aligned cylindricalcassettes in opposite directions of rotation; the cassettes alternatelytransmitting the rotational motion through one half of the rotation toan output load shaft. In one aspect of this invention, the set ofsources are a set of reciprocating piston and cylinders.

In accord with the present invention, there is provided a method ofconverting linear motion from a set of sources to rotational motioncomprising transmitting the linear motion from a set of sources to a setof racks; the racks alternately rotating a pair of axially alignedcylindrical outer sleeves in opposite directions of rotation; the outersleeves transmitting the rotational motion alternately through one halfof the rotation to a pair of inner sleeves; and the pair of innersleeves alternately transmitting the rotational motion to an output loadshaft. In an aspect of this invention, the set of sources are a set ofreciprocating piston and cylinders. In another aspect, the outer sleevestransmit the rotational motion alternately through one half of therotation to a pair of inner sleeves through the use of a comb andretracting pins.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an inner sleeve of a cassette;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a complementary inner sleeve of acassette;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of joined complementary inner sleeves;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an outer sleeve of a cassette;

FIG. 5 is a side view of the pin mechanisms in the outer sleeve of acassette;

FIG. 6 is a side view of an assembled cassette, with a cutaway to showthe pin mechanism;

FIG. 7 is a plan view of the inventive device which converts the linearmotion of the piston into the rotary motion of the output shaft;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a the device of FIG. 7, illustrating thedirection of movement;

FIG. 9 is a side view of a tapered segment bevel gear;

FIG. 10 is a side view of a second tapered bevel gear;

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of an inner sleeve of a cassette with twotoothed combs;

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of an alternative arrangement ofcylinders, racks and cassettes;

FIG. 13 is a perspective view of an alternative arrangement ofcylinders, racks and cassettes, doubling the number of cylinders andracks;

FIG. 14 is a perspective view of an alternative arrangement ofcylinders, racks and cassettes, where the racks have double sided teethand additional cylinders are added;

FIG. 15 is a side view of a central holder;

FIG. 16 is a side and cut-away view of a holder for the extended neck ofthe inner sleeve of the cassette; and

FIGS. 17 A-D illustrate the interaction of the pins and comb to rotatethe inner sleeve in one direction of rotation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

This invention involves a device that converts linear into rotationalmotion using a rack and pinion system as opposed to a piston connectedto a crankshaft. An engine incorporating the device uses a normalcylinder and valve mechanism to drive pistons in a reciprocating motion,but unlike in a typical engine, the piston drives a rack and pinionsystem. The motion is transferred to an output load shaft through acassette.

FIG. 1 shows a steel sleeve 8 with a toothed comb 10 on itscircumference with one hand and the connecting grooves 12 on theopposite side of the sleeve. Groove 50 is a keyway that runs the lengthof steel sleeve 8. Groove 80 is a keyway that runs the length of neck201. FIG. 2 shows a complementary second steel sleeve 9 with a toothedcomb 11 on its circumference with one hand and the connecting grooves 13on the opposite side of the sleeve. Sleeve 9 has a groove 51 that form akeyway that runs the length of sleeve 9.

Turning to FIG. 3, Connecting grooves 12 and 13 are complementary andinterlock so that sleeves 8 and 9 can create inner steel sleeve 15. Whensleeves 8 and 9 are interconnected to form one sleeve, grooves 50 and 51match to form a keyway running the length of sleeves 8 and 9.

FIG. 4 shows an outer steel sleeve 20, in the outer surface of whichgrooves 22 are cut to form teeth, and on both ends of the outer sleeveaxial through-holes 24 are made with teeth cut in the form of a bevelgear 26. The outer steel sleeve has holes 28 in the edges. Turning toFIG. 5, the holes 28 accept slidably inserted steel pins 30, which areconstantly pressed inwards by a steel spring 32 which covers a threadedcap 34.

FIG. 6 shows an assembled cassette 40. The cassette 40 is assembled bypress-fitting the inner sleeves 8 and 9 into ball bearings 35, which arepressed into the outer sleeve 20 in the cassettes on both sides, withsleeves 8 and 9 interconnecting as seen in FIG. 3 to create an innersleeve 15. As a result, when the outer sleeve 20 rotates in onedirection of rotation, the slidably inserted steel pins 30 will interactwith toothed combs 10 and 11 to rotate sleeves 8 and 9 in the samedirection. When outer sleeve 20 rotates in the opposite direction ofrotation, steel pins 30 will slide up toothed combs 10 and 11 andsleeves 8 and 9 will not rotate.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 4, there is one row of holes 28with steel pins 30; in a second embodiment, there are two rows of holesand pins, as may be seen in FIG. 6. These embodiments are mirrored byeither one or two parallel rows of combs 10 and 11 on the inner sleeves,as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 11, respectively.

FIG. 7 shows the inventive mechanical device as a whole, while FIG. 8shows the mechanical device in perspective, showing motion. There isprovided a second cassette 74, which is similar to cassette 40 exceptthat the toothed combs of the inner sleeves of cassette 74 are themirror images of those on sleeves 8 and 9 of cassette 40. There are alsoprovided intermediate bevel gears 68, 70 and 72. The teeth of bevelgears 68, 70 and 72 are connected to the teeth of the bevel gears 26 ofcassettes 40 and 74.

The circumferential surface 81 of sleeve 8 is fitted into the ballbearings sitting in is held in holder 27. Extended neck holder 31 servesa similar function for cassette 74. Extended neck holder 27 isillustrated in FIG. 16. Turning to FIG. 16, holder 27 includes ballbearings 33; the circumferential surface 81 of sleeve 8 passes throughopening 37. Returning to FIG. 7, neck 201 is fixed to tapered segmentbevel gear 76 (and a similar arrangement applies to bevel gear 78).

Turning to FIGS. 9 and 10, tapered segment bevel gears 76 and 78 haveteeth 84 and 86 only on half their circumference. Tapered segment bevelgears 76 and 78 also have grooves 80.

An output load shaft 88 with splines thereon is inserted and engagesgrooves 50 and 51 in sleeve 8 and 9 and grooves 80 on bevel gears 76 and78 fixed on the sleeves 8 and 9. There is also provided a central holder29, which is illustrated in FIG. 15. Turning to FIG. 15, the output loadshaft 88 passes through opening 39, which has ball bearings 41. Centralholder 29 also holds intermediate bevel gears 70 in place.

Returning to FIG. 7, guides 180, 182, 184 and 186 hold racks 62, 64, 90and 92 in place and guide the racks in their movement. Cylinders 60, 66,94 and 96 and racks 62, 64, 90 and 92 are arranged in a cylinders block.Pinion 200 mounted on the output load shaft 88 through a timing beltdrive rotates the camshaft of the engine.

As may be seen in FIG. 8, the racks 62 and 64 move back and forth in areciprocating or alternating (linear) motion. Cassette 40 rotatesbackwards and forwards (or alternates between rotating backward andforwards, in a first direction and an opposite second direction), and,sleeves 8 and 9 of cassette 40 are rotated in one direction of rotation.Returning to FIG. 7, there is provided a second cassette 74, which issimilar to cassette 40 except that the toothed combs of the innersleeves of cassette 74 are the mirror images of those on sleeves 8 and 9of cassette 40. There are also provided intermediate bevel gears 68, 70and 72. The teeth of bevel gears 68, 70 and 72 are connected to theteeth of the bevel gears 26 of cassettes 40 and 74.

The motor starts when an electric starter rotates flywheel 82. Flywheel82 is attached to output load shaft 88. Engaging with the splines on theoutput load shaft 88, inner sleeves in cassettes 40 and 74 begin torotate, as well as tapered segment bevel gears 76 and 78. (Recall thattapered segment bevel gears 76 and 78 only engage with intermediategears 68 and 72 through half their rotation successively)

When the output load shaft 88 rotates, tapered segment gear 78 rotatesgear 72, which through its end teeth rotates cassette 74. The rotationof cassette 74 moves racks 90 and 92 which in turn move the pistons incylinders 94 and 96. Meanwhile, gear 70 moves cassette 40 in theopposite direction of rotation, moving racks 62 and 64 and the pistonsin cylinders 60 and 66 in the opposite direction of motion to racks 90and 92; and the pistons in cylinders 94 and 96. Also, tapered segmentbevel gears 76 engages gear 68. The connection of the working parts ofgears 76 and 78 occurs alternately. This starts the feed of gas/airmixtures into cylinders 60, 66, 94 and 96.

After ignition of the fuel mixture in one of the cylinders, rotation ofthe output load shaft 88 of the engine is caused by engaging the slidingsteel pins 30 located in the outer sleeves 20 with the teeth of comb 10on the inner sleeve 8 of the cassette. The linear movement of the pistonin the cylinder is transmitted to the rack that rotates the outer sleeveof the cassette. The outer sleeve rotation is transmitted to the innersleeve of the cassette and thus to the output shaft. Rotation of theoutput load shaft 88 is alternately carried by each of the cassettes 40and 74 each cassette controls for half the rotation of the output shaft.

Turning to FIG. 7, suppose the combustible mixture ignited in cylinder60. The piston in cylinder 60 moves from the upper to the lowerposition, and its rack 62 moves the outer sleeve 20 of cassette 40through interaction with grooves 22. At the same moment rack 64 moves(it is also engaged by the grooves 22 of outer sleeve 20 of cassette 40)and the piston in cylinder 66 moves from the upper position to the lowerproducing absorption of the combustible mixture into cylinder 66.

Rotating outer sleeve 20 of cassette 40 through the teeth of bevel gear26 and the teeth of gear 70 transmits the opposite rotation of the outersleeve cassette 74. The piston of the cylinder 94 moving up to compressthe combustion mixture in the cylinder 94.

The combustible mixture then ignites in cylinder 94. The piston incylinder 94 moves from the upper to the lower position, and its rack 90moves the outer sleeve 20 of cassette 74 through interaction withgrooves 22. At the same moment rack 92 moves (it is also engaged by thegrooves 22 of outer sleeve 20 of cassette 74) and the piston in cylinder96 moves from the upper position to the lower producing absorption ofthe combustible mixture into cylinder 96.

The rotation of cassette 74 is transmitted via intermediate bevel gear70 to racks 62 and 64, moving the pistons in cylinders 60 and 66 fromthe lower to the upper position. This compresses the combustible mixturein cylinder 66 and expels the exhaust from cylinder 60. The combustiblemixture in cylinder 66 is now ready for ignition in the next cycle ofthe engine.

In operation, the inner sleeves 8 and 9 of cassettes 40 and 74 arealternately rotated by the operation of racks 62, 64, 90, and 92,creating virtually continuous rotation of output load shaft 88 byalternately engaging slidable pins 30 outer sleeves of the cassettes 40and 74 with the teeth combs on the internal sleeves 8 and 9.

This is further illustrated in FIGS. 17a-17d . Turning to FIG. 17a , thepins 30 abut the teeth of comb 10 at the beginning of a rotation, andthe rotation of outer sleeve 20 pushes pins 30 against comb 10 thusrotating inner sleeve 8 (which in turn rotates output load shaft 88).Specific pin 176 abuts tooth 178. When the rotation of outer sleeve 20stops 180 degrees later, the pins 30 will abut comb 10 as illustrated inFIG. 17b , and pin 176 abuts tooth 178 but has rotated 180 degrees fromthe position in FIG. 17a . When the outer sleeve 20 reverses rotation,the pins will retract as they are pulled over comb 10, as seen in FIG.17c . Inner sleeve 8 will continue to rotate, pushed by the output loadshaft 88. As may be seen in FIG. 17c , pin 176 and tooth 178 areseparating as inner sleeve 10 and outer sleeve 20 rotate in differentdirections. When the outer sleeve finishes its reversed rotation through180 degrees, the pins 30 will again be in a position to push against theteeth of comb 10 and impart rotational motion as seen in FIG. 17d , andpin 176 and tooth 178 will be in the position illustrated in FIG. 17d ,which is essentially identical to FIG. 17 a.

This engine design increases engine power compared to the consumption ofenergy. It eliminates the inherent inefficiency of a crankshaft design.Compared to prior art rack and pinion engines, the present inventionutilizes a balanced, cylindrical mechanism with rotating elements. Thepresent invention has relatively few moving parts, allowing foradvantages in maintenance and in the life of the engine before partsneed to be replaced, particularly when operating at high speeds. Theinventive engine uses one cassette for every two pistons instead ofmultiple gears and complex mechanisms. In addition, this design producesa compact motor, and generally reduces the weight of the engine.

In a further embodiment, turning to FIG. 11, it is possible to have anadditional toothed comb 98 on inner sleeve 8 parallel to toothed comb10, and correspondingly have an extra set of steel pins in the outersleeve 20. An additional toothed comb can also be added to inner sleeve9, resulting in two additional toothed combs when inner sleeves 8 and 9are combined in one cassette. In all cases, corresponding extra steelpins are added to outer sleeve 20. This will increase the transfer oftorque to the output shaft.

In another embodiment, guides 180, 182, 184 and 186 can be replaced witha mechanism to use the work associated with the motion of racks 62, 64,90 and 92. For example, guides 180, 182, 184 and 186 may be replacedwith cylinders and positions which may be used to supply compressed airor circulate lubricants.

In another embodiment, turning to FIG. 12, an alternative arrangement ofthe cylinders (labelled 100, 106, 102, and 104), racks (labelled 108,110, 112 and 114) and cassettes (labelled 116 and 118) is shown. In thisarrangement, the pistons in cylinders 100 and 106 move to the high andlow positions in unison, and the pistons in cylinder 104 and 102 alsomove at the same time. With this structure, the size of the motor isreduced in length compared to the classical design row.

In another embodiment, turning to FIG. 13, the number of cylinders(labelled as 120, 122, 124, 126, 128, 130, 132 and 134) and racks(labelled 136, 138, 140, 142, 144, 146, 148 and 150) is doubled to eightwhile holding the number of cassettes (labelled 152 and 154) constant.The cylinders are paired with cylinders on the opposite side of thecylinder: i.e. 120 with either 134 or 132; 122 with either 132 or 134;124 with 130 or 128, and 126 with 130 or 128. This increases the enginepower. In a further embodiment, cylinders 128, 130, 132 and 134 may beswitched off when they are not needed and the engine will operate withonly cylinders 120, 122, 124 and 126. This switching may be doneautomated.

One may constructively increase the number of cylinders in this manner,and so increase the power of the engine. The use of longer cassettesallows the addition of more cylinders.

In another embodiment, illustrated in FIG. 14, racks 156 have teeth onboth sides and are driven by pistons inside cylinders 158. Cylinders 160and 162 have longitudinal grooves 168 and 170 which mesh with the teethof racks 156. At their ends, cylinders 160 and 162 have teeth 164 and166 which engage with bevel gear 26 at the ends of the cassettes. Thisembodiment is designed to handle heavy loads.

Although the forgoing description and accompanying drawings relate tospecific preferred embodiments of the present invention as presentlycontemplated by the inventor, it will be understood that variouschanges, modifications and adaptations may be made without departingfrom the spirit of the invention.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method of converting linear motion from aset of sources to rotational motion comprising the steps of:transmitting the linear motion from a set of sources to a set of racks;the racks alternately rotating a pair of axially aligned cylindricalcassettes in opposite directions of rotation; the cassettes alternatelyrotating an output load shaft through one half of a full rotation; wherethe set of sources are a set of reciprocating piston and cylinders; andwhere each cylindrical cassette has a cylindrical inner sleeve and acylindrical outer sleeve, the inner sleeve fitting inside the outersleeve and configured so that when the outer sleeve is rotated in afirst direction, the inner sleeve is also rotated, and when the outersleeve is rotated in a second direction opposite to the first direction,the inner sleeve is not rotated; said cassette having a bevel gear ateach axial end; and said outer sleeve having teeth oriented along theaxis of the cassette.
 2. The method of claim 1, where the inner sleevehas two combs and the outer sleeve has two sets of retractable fingersconfigured to interact with said combs.
 3. The method of claim 2, whereeach inner sleeve when rotated rotates the output load shaft.
 4. Themethod of claim 1, where the inner sleeve has four combs and the outersleeve has four sets of retractable fingers configured to interact withsaid combs.
 5. The method of claim 4, where each inner sleeve whenrotated rotates the output load shaft.
 6. The method of claim 1, whereeach inner sleeve when rotated rotates the output load shaft.